Long awaited, DOOM 3 for the Macintosh may be here sooner than anticipated. This first person shooter, recently released for the PC platform, is coming soon to the Macintosh courtesy of Aspyr Media. Glenda Adams reports that the game is up and running on a Mac and they hope to ship by early 2005. With DOOM 3 we play a marine sent to Mars to uncover some of the mysteries plaguing the U.A.C. (Union Aerospace Corporation) complex on Mars.

DOOM 3 has its roots in DOOM and DOOM 2. It has been 10 years since we have had an installment of this franchise, and it's well worth the wait. In DOOM 3, you begin on Mars in the year 2145. You are tasked with the mission of finding a missing coworker amidst a series of odd happenings at the Mars base. Staff members hear voices, workers go missing, and the scientists are pushing the bounds of ethics and nature by experimenting with dimensional portals and the like. Once you accept this task, you get a trusty PDA to keep you in touch with ‘Sarge’ who directs your mission and you begin your search beneath the U.A.C. complex. That is when all hell breaks loose. Literally.

DOOM 3 is first and foremost a first person shooter. We experience the game from this perspective and all of the controls and movements are from your own point of view. The game interface is simple and intuitive and reminiscent of the original. It can be played with a mouse and keyboard without any additional joysticks or game pads. Some nice touches include doors opening automatically as you approach them, and target crosshairs that change into a cursor if you approach an object you can interact with (no more frustrating guesswork). Keeping to the DOOM heritage, the game is filled with a bountiful choice of destructive weaponry. The classic shotgun we all learned to love from the original is back, along with the classic twelve shot pistol, bare hands, and of course no space marine would be caught without their chainsaw. Along with those implements of destruction, you will find grenades for a quick toss of mayhem, the chain gun, machine gun, plasma gun, rocket launcher, best used for big monsters, and of course the B.F.G.

Playing this game is a nail biter. After the first few moments you realize this is not any ordinary game. Its immersive and you feel a part of the U.A.C. complex immediately. You anticipate what lurks around every corner, and what may be following in the shadows. It is one of the best titles to portray a mood of suspense and terror. This game makes you feel truly scared.

The DOOM 3 graphics engine is responsible for the gory details that make this visually stunning game. It allows so many little extras, but none of them are frivolous and added just for specs. Each of the game’s graphical elements is there to tell the story and immerse you in the mood. When chasing down Imps among the dark corridors, their fireballs cast light and shadows about you and the textures are luxurious. The combat itself is rendered with painful detail. When you kill a Zombie, you see it fade to a skeletal state then to dust, like an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All of this visual gore comes at a price. DOOM 3 takes a machine with above average specifications to play with all the eye-candy turned on and maximum game resolution. No details on the Macintosh required specs are available yet.